Penn State University - College of Arts and Architecture
M.L.A. in Landscape Architecture
State College, USA
Master degree
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
Key Summary
Nationally recognized professional education
The professional M.L.A. program at Penn State equips students with the techniques, principles, histories, theories, and technologies to become leaders in the profession of landscape architecture.
Our mission is to do inspired work grounded in environmental and social good. Are you ready to join us?
The M.L.A. at Penn State provides real professional skills that prepare our graduates for real professional practice from the first day. The combination of a professional education from one of the top programs in the country with experience in research at a Tier-1 research institution means that you will be ready to hit the ground running upon graduation. This dual curriculum approach provides a strong foundation for whatever your career aspirations: traditional professional practice, conducting research in a professional office, or teaching at a college or university.
Our M.L.A. degree is accredited by the Landscape Architecture Accreditation Board (LAAB), and graduates are eligible to sit for the professional license exam (Landscape Architecture Registration Exam).
- Our M.L.A. develops creative insight and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed in practice.
- You can customize your curriculum with geodesign, education abroad, and other opportunities.
- Our faculty members are truly student-focused; you’ll get to know them well as mentors and colleagues.
- Our collegial learning community fosters essential critical inquiry and confidence in our students.
- Our close-knit community of 200 within a large university provides intimate yet vast opportunities.
Is the M.L.A. right for you?
Our competitive, rewarding, and highly ranked program is designed for students seeking professional training in landscape architecture.
The M.L.A. is open to a diverse array of starting points, including:
- Change-of-career students, new to design, who seek an accredited, professional education that prepares them to enter the practice of landscape architecture; for these students, the time to degree is typically three years.
- Students who already hold a non-accredited design degree and seek an accredited, professional education that prepares them to enter the field of landscape architecture; for these students, time to degree is typically two and one-half years.
- Students who already hold an accredited bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and seek advanced breadth/depth of expertise; for these students, the time to degree is typically two years.
Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 699 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education, but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.
- Research and Writing in Landscape Architecture
- Intellectual History and Theory of Landscape Architecture
- Graduate Seminar in Landscape Architecture
- Design and Theory I: Introduction
- Master of Landscape Architecture Project Studio
- Final Culminating Experience Proposal
- Final Culminating Experience Production
- Final Culminating Experience Documentation & Presentation
- Colloquium
- Independent Studies
- Special Topics
- Thesis Research (On Campus)
- Graduate Studio I
- Graduate Studio II
- Graduate Studio III
- Graduate Implementation I: Grading
- Graduate Implementation II: Materials
- Graduate Implementation III: Plants
- Graduate Implementation IV: Stormwater